  Ocean2026 Member Username: Ocean2026 Post Number: 174 Registered: 11-2008 |
That doesn't sound right. Fuel prices are low and most electric companies buy long term contracts and so they should benefit from these low prices for years to come. My electric bill for 4 of us in a big house was $148 this month, but then again it did get below 60 on two short occasions. I don't want to know what the winter bills are like in Detroit ( but most likely someone will tell me anyway lol) | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 4574 Registered: 02-2004 |
YAY! This nation is in a recession and corporations want to raise the utility rates. I better keep the lights and heat off for a while. | ||
Zrx_doug Member Username: Zrx_doug Post Number: 896 Registered: 03-2008 |
It'll be alright, Danny..just go to the nearest Coney Island and ask 'em about the special low rate plan.. | ||
Bibs Member Username: Bibs Post Number: 330 Registered: 10-2003 |
Overtime, replace all your bulbs with flourecent bulbs or LED. | ||
Detmsp Member Username: Detmsp Post Number: 85 Registered: 08-2008 |
energy consumption has gone way down due to the recession, hence the rate hike. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 4317 Registered: 10-2003 |
And, here we are in Lansing bitching about another proposed 2% increase in rates. I'm glad for our municipal-owned utility, though, we've had a few scandals of our own in the past few months/years. GM has cut way back on energy use here in the area, too, and their the Lansing BWL's biggest customer. Outside of the drop in consumption, though, what's really killing us is the perpetual rise in health care costs, not unlike any business, these days. (Message edited by lmichigan on March 23, 2009) | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6257 Registered: 08-2004 |
No Ocean2026... we're not going to tell you... we're going to ask you.... Why are you posting this here? I'm assuming that with continuous 60 degree plus weather this time of year that you're not even within 1000 miles of Detroit... (you didn't mention where). (Message edited by Gistok on March 24, 2009) | ||
Haikoont Member Username: Haikoont Post Number: 142 Registered: 09-2008 |
^^ Get a grip you control freak. Regardless of where Ocean2026 lives, DTE and Consumers Energy are proposing rate hikes that would raise residential electric bills by about 11 percent. Here. In Gistok territory. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=20099032303 84 | ||
Rid0617 Member Username: Rid0617 Post Number: 419 Registered: 03-2008 |
People are finding all this conservation stuff is crap. Even down here, we conserve electricity and Duke power raised our rates 13%. Florida Power increased almost as much. Conserve water because we are in a severe drought and water bills go up 24%. Time people all over this country start protesting this greed. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6259 Registered: 08-2004 |
Geeze Haikoont, I didn't realize that this was the ClairvoyantYES forum. In case you didn't know... mentioning a source is an appropriate way to START a thread. Meh noobs.... (Message edited by Gistok on March 24, 2009) | ||
Rid0617 Member Username: Rid0617 Post Number: 420 Registered: 03-2008 |
About like UPS. Diesel fuel is the lowest it has been in 3 years but they charge a fuel surcharge. Sears who used to charge $35 to deliver an item now charges $65 | ||
Rid0617 Member Username: Rid0617 Post Number: 421 Registered: 03-2008 |
About like UPS. Diesel fuel is the lowest it has been in 3 years but they charge a fuel surcharge. Sears who used to charge $35 to deliver an item now charges $65 | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 1006 Registered: 08-2007 |
Speaking about energy bills. I replace my old bulbs with CFL'S which are supposed to last longer. While waiting for the "last" old style bulb to burn out. I have had to replace the Cfl next to it twice, What gives? From what I have heard about the rate hikes It sounds like the power companies are just trying to make up for lost revenue. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6260 Registered: 08-2004 |
So Consumers is upgrading their computer system? And how will this expenditure passed on to their customers benefit those same customers? They've already outsourced some of their billing collections functions. | ||
Redvetred Member Username: Redvetred Post Number: 208 Registered: 04-2007 |
Someone has to pay for all of the windmills being installed throughout Michigan to satisfy all of the environmentalists demands because windpower is not the most economical method to generate power. You still need coal and nuclear plants when the hot air doesn't blow in Lansing. | ||
Pythonmaster Member Username: Pythonmaster Post Number: 257 Registered: 12-2006 |
I have an answer for these monopolistic weasels even if our gutless representatives don't---NO!!!! | ||
Buyamerican Member Username: Buyamerican Post Number: 939 Registered: 02-2007 |
They ask you to conserve energy, conserve water, conserve everything....then they sock it to you because you're not using as much and they aren't making as much money. You can't win! People need to start protesting big time for this type of extortion to end. | ||
7051 Member Username: 7051 Post Number: 200 Registered: 02-2006 |
My winter electric bill averages $87 for 2,700 sq. feet and 4 people. $65 in the summer without AC. Try turning the lights off sometimes. These averages have been pretty steady the last 10 years. | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 4580 Registered: 02-2004 |
In the summer, I only have to pay $20.00 for my heating and cooling costs. YAY! Now that's how I save energy. | ||
Novine Member Username: Novine Post Number: 1283 Registered: 07-2007 |
"Someone has to pay for all of the windmills being installed throughout Michigan to satisfy all of the environmentalists demands because windpower is not the most economical method to generate power." Someone isn't DTE or Consumers as neither has built any wind farms in Michigan. | ||
Mind_field Member Username: Mind_field Post Number: 496 Registered: 10-2003 |
there are other options, conservation is one measure. Turn stuff off that is not being used. Unplug vampire appliances, such as your tv, computer, or microwave when they are not in use. If you go away in the summer, turn off the power to the water heater if it's electric. CFL bulbs is one option, LED lights are even more frugal electricity users. If you are really ambitious, you can even construct your very own personal wind turbine to generate electricity for your home. do it for around $150! | ||
3rdworldcity Member Username: 3rdworldcity Post Number: 1374 Registered: 01-2005 |
Novine, I think you're wrong about the wind generators. I believe DTE generates electricity in the Thumb or at least purchases wind generated electricity up there from others. In any case, both utilities have acquired about 40,000 acres of leases upon which they are going to construct generators in the next 3 or 4 years. They're mandated by law, now, to generate (or purchase) at least 10% of their electricity from alternative sources. It's a knockoff of the ethanol concept, one of the great debacles of all time. The cost of those leases will be factored into their rates now rather than waiting until the generators are built. The utilities have already estimated that electricity rates will increase substantially once they start using alternative energy. Maybe what everyone up there should do is send your electric bills to Al Gore. Maybe he'll pay them. You think? Maybe you should start thinking about electing leaders who will use some common sense and rescind these kinds of laws. If you don't, stop bitching about your electricity bills and stop blaming the utilities. | ||
Detroitej72 Member Username: Detroitej72 Post Number: 1374 Registered: 05-2006 |
DTE was supposed to cut costs by buying energy from Detroit's garbage incinerator. Thats what Mayor Young told us in the 80's. Wow, a politician lied to us??? All jokes aside, as long as energy companies are part of the free market that folks like Bats keep preaching, costs will continue to rise. In the free market, utilities need to make a profit, thus, even with our energy-conscience ways, they will find a way to turn a buck, i.e. raise the rats. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 4320 Registered: 10-2003 |
It is the decrease in consumption and rise in health care costs and benefits eating into utility profits far more than any increase that has (or will) come from green mandates, so you conservatives can leave that stinking red herring right where it is and go search for your boogey-men, elsewhere. BTW, in some states, regulators have gone the utility decoupling route, which decouples revenue from sales. | ||
Trainman Member Username: Trainman Post Number: 797 Registered: 04-2006 |
Let's all vote for DANNY for our next president. | ||
Baselinepunk Member Username: Baselinepunk Post Number: 144 Registered: 03-2007 |
If profit margins are down, then they should layoff just all of the other sectors have done. I don't think they really have a bitch here about rising costs; their raw material is not through the roof anymore. This is one of the businesses that can raise the price of their end product due to the lack of consumption by the consumer. That makes a lot of sense. Aren't they going to be the sector that gets stimulus monies to update the grid? They already charge and fee us for greenies; wtf? cut some positions for cripes sake. The regulators still can reject this request; however, the regulators have been rubber stamping us into the ground. Lack of revenue is not my problem. The product has become expensive, so I have throttled back on all energy consumption. I'm "voting with my feet" in this situation; but I'm really on a treadmill. Between these BS artists and the Detroit Water Department the region really gets screwed. I'd like to see an quality audit on these 'mfuckers. | ||
Novine Member Username: Novine Post Number: 1285 Registered: 07-2007 |
"Novine, I think you're wrong about the wind generators. I believe DTE generates electricity in the Thumb or at least purchases wind generated electricity up there from others." I'm well aware of how DTE acquires power from wind sources. For several years, DTE has been enrolling households and businesses in their GreenCurrents program where one pays a premium for DTE to acquire energy from alternative energy suppliers. DTE used those funds to acquire renewable energy credits from existing wind suppliers in Michigan. They just announced the other day that they are looking at investing in their own wind farms. But that's a future project. They don't currently produce any wind energy themselves. "They're mandated by law, now, to generate (or purchase) at least 10% of their electricity from alternative sources." Wrong. The state law doesn't mandate 10% until 2015. That gives DTE 6 years to go from their current 1% to 10%, or a less than 2% increase per year. "It's a knockoff of the ethanol concept, one of the great debacles of all time. The cost of those leases will be factored into their rates now rather than waiting until the generators are built." Whatever the merits of ethanol production, there's no comparison to wind power generation. It's argued that ethanol production (at least ethanol created from corn) isn't sustainable because it competes with the need to grow corn for food consumption (either directly or feed corn for livestock) and that the increased in agricultural acreage is harmful to the environment. By comparison, there's no competing uses for the wind and wind generation has a much lower environmental impact compared to almost any other energy generation method. As for the argument that the increased costs are a result of the renewable energy mandate, there's no truth to that either. Even the Detroit News editorial attacking that mandate stated that any costs related to that mandate are not related to the current cost increases. According to the News, that mandate will cost consumers an additional $3 per month if the PSC accepts that rate increase request. Personally, I'll gladly pay an extra $3 per month to reduce our reliance on coal, which generates a tremendous amount of pollution and has a negative impact on our air quality and the water quality in the Great Lakes. What the News conveniently left out and that critics of wind power always ignore is that the alternative to energy conservation and renewables is new "clean" coal (which isn't clean) and nuclear power plants. Both of those atlternatives are incredibly expensive. The Fermi 3 proposal to build a new nuke plant near Monroe has a price tag of $10 billion dollars. Who do you think's going to fund that plant? The rate payers for DTE. An extra $3 a month is going to be nothing if DTE gets their way and gets all us to pay for a new nuke plant. | ||
Haikoont Member Username: Haikoont Post Number: 143 Registered: 09-2008 |
quote: Ad hominen. (I wonder what was edited?) | ||
Baselinepunk Member Username: Baselinepunk Post Number: 145 Registered: 03-2007 |
Ethanol from switch grass was solved a lot of issues. | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 2273 Registered: 04-2006 |
I've already switch my bulbs over, have a newer energy star fridge and have installed some solar powered outdoor lighting. I know my energy usage is down quite a bit. I'd live to find a better way to light my front porch. I currently have a flourescent bulb out there and just keep it blazing 24/7. I have a covered porch so most solar or auto night packages don't seem to work. In addition with the motion sensor lights don't work unless you use the old style incandesent bulbs. |
